Shirley
by Anneack
Summary: Bobby gets hurt and someone is upset


Sometimes I really wish people understood how hard it can be to take care of Bobby. It's not like I mind or am complaining or anything, I just wish others understood. Don't get me wrong, I love him dearly and the things I do for him I do out of love, but he does take a lot of care and attention. 

He tries and take care of himself, and I appreciate his attempts, but he does need that something more that he just can't or won't do for himself. He makes the bed every morning, but forgets to fluff it a bit so it'll be nice and soft when he goes to bed, but I do it after he's gone. You would not believe some of the things he eats! I try and keep to a healthy diet, and encourage him to join me, but he insists on having his own way on that one. He never sleeps enough, I try and get him to turn in a little early or take a nap if he's not going out that day. We've compromised on that one, he still doesn't sleep as much as he should, but he sleeps more than he would if I wasn't around to remind him to go to bed.

Okay, I admit that sometimes I nag a bit, but it's all for his own good.

Like I said, he needs a great deal of care and watching over, but he's definitely worth it.

It's been harder than usual of late, he's been eating less and less and working longer and longer hours, and when he is home, he doesn't sleep very well. I think that he's got a case that's upsetting him; I hope that it isn't that Nicole woman again. Every time she comes to the city, he's half crazy until she leaves. And even after she's left it takes a week or more him to really come back to being himself. I try to be loving and supportive during those times, but he doesn't always talk to me, so I can't help as much as I would like.

I wish he would come home, I know that he can't always get home on time, but it's dark and raining and I just have a bad feeling about this. It's been nagging at me all day, this feeling that something is not right. I had just put it up to nerves and the baby being fussy until Lewis called. It seems that the poker game was at his house tonight and he was wondering if everything was okay since Bobby hadn't called him to say he wasn't coming and hadn't shown up. That was when I started to worry; it's not like Bobby to forget to call Louis if he can't make their weekly game, or course it's also not like him to leave the message function on the phone on speaker mode. Besides, the only reason Lewis would leave a message on the machine here, would be if Bobby had turned off his cell phone for some reason, and that is never a good sign.

The baby's finally settled so I can get a little time to myself curling up in the living room. From the window I should be able to see when he gets home, even when he's on a case he's usual home by now. Maybe they had to do a stake out, I know that he sometimes has to do those and doesn't always get a chance to come home first.

Well, wherever he is, he's likely with her, Eames. She's his partner. I know I shouldn't be jealous, after all it's not like she would ever replace me, but I can't always help it when she gets to see more of him than I do. To her credit, she's always nice and polite to me when she's here, not like some of his other female friends. I know how important Eames is to him; he was a bit lost when she was gone for a while with her baby, so I always try to show my good breeding and manners when she's here. Thankfully, however, when Bobby is meeting with her, or one of those other ladies, he generally goes to them rather than having them over here.

Someone's opening the door! Maybe Bobby's finally here and I just missed him among all the other people walking past the building. The awning really does make it difficult if not impossible at times to see who's coming and going. I'm halfway to the door when it opens.

"Hey, Shirley, Bobby wasn't certain you'd be home and he thought he might have left the window open so he asked me to come and check on it."

It's not Bobby, it's Eames, like I said I have nothing against her, but she is not Bobby and the only way she could have gotten in here is with his keys!

"What are doing here, Eames, and why isn't Bobby with you?"

"Just let me close this window, I don't know why your teeth aren't chattering it's freezing in here. Oh, I brought some dinner for you, it's in the kitchen."

Well, at least she brought dinner; guests bringing food can't be all bad. I take a look at it while she's tending to the window; Salmon, one of my favorites! Oh, smells like she went to Katz for one of her and Bobby's favorites, Pastrami with mustard.

"Shirley, Bobby can't come home tonight, he got shot today, he'll be fine but he has ot be kept over night for observation."

"What! Bobby's been shot! How could you have let that happen?"

Okay, okay, okay I admit that it wasn't fair of me to blame her, but I was upset.

"Hey, don't blame me! We were talking to a suspect; we hadn't heard anything about a second person so how were we supposed to know that he had an accomplice," Eames shot back.

"You're detectives; you're supposed to detect things like that!" I snarled.

"There was nothing I could have done differently or that he could have! We suspected one of the kids might have been involved, so decided to question them further in hopes of getting some evidence of some kind for Carver. We simple approached the wrong brother first, and the other brother saw us and shot Bobby. It's one of those things that just happens some times if you're a cop," she replied coldly.

I glared but didn't reply. I knew she was right, but I was still angry.

"Listen, the important thing is that Bobby's going to be fine. All he got was a crease on the hair line. His minus a little hair and hide, lost blood and was unconscious for awhile but he came to in the hospital with a huge headache and was told that he couldn't leave until tomorrow. He asked me to come and check on you and let you know that he's okay; he didn't want you to worry about him."

Well, it doesn't sound like he was hurt all that badly, and Eames couldn't have done more than she did. Blaming her won't solve anything, but when I get done with him, Bobby will certainly know better than to do something like this again!

Since there was nothing we could do for Bobby we headed to the kitchen for dinner. She must like Pastrami as much as I like salmon since we both finished our meals without bothering to talk. Neither one of us was being rude; we were just enjoying our meals.

We both jumped when the thunder boomed and the lights went out, in moments the power was back on, but she looked pale to put it kindly.

"Driving out there is going to be a nightmare," Eames shuddered.

"Why don't you stay and wait it out then?" I offered. It was the least Bobby would expect of me, and as I had said I have nothing against Eames and it was cold and wet out there.

"I'll just stay until it lets up," she replied following me into the living room.

I reached up to try and get a book I thought she might like on abnormal psychology and the criminal mind. I thought as a cop she might find it interesting, I know it's one of Bobby's favorites.

"Ouch!"

Looking over I saw that in reaching for the book I had accidentally knocked the photo album on to the couch where Eames was sitting.

"This should be diverting," she smirked.

"Trust me, there's a reason that was up so high," I chuckled in agreement.

Flipping it open she burst out laughing. I joined her on the couch and had to smile. There was Bobby as a baby, all grin and curly brown hair back then, sitting in the sink getting a bath and splashing his mother in the process.

The ones that followed where the usual baby pictures, first steps, first birthday, one of him and a medium sized brown dog, some of him and his brother; none of them particularly embarrassing, just Bobby doing normal baby things. He looked like he was happy back then, at least most of the pictures he was smiling.

There was another one then that made Eames choke on the water she was drinking. Bobby was a toddler and appeared to be doing some kind of dance step sans clothing. I grinned, remembering that he had talked more than once about taking this out and burning it. It was one of his mother's favorites though, so he's never had the heart to actually destroy it. It took a minute for Eames to start breathing again she was laughing so hard.

There were some after that of Bobby and his dad, they were kind of sad though, so we passed fairly quickly. Bobby wasn't smiling in those, but then neither was his dad.

The pictures for some reason were a lot farther apart now then they had been at the beginning of the album. His dad was in fewer and fewer of them, and he was smiling less and less, so was his brother. It was funny how those two looked nothing alike.

There was a family photo of all four together; it was very obvious where Bobby's looks came from. Frances Goren's dark eyes and curly brown hair were a perfect match to her younger son; as was his father's height and just plain largeness. Even as young as he was in that photo though, it was obvious that in his father's case it was largely that of a former athlete gone soft, Bobby's just as large but it's all muscle and he works hard to keep it that way.

No one looked happy in the family photo, so it wasn't too surprising that photos got even few and farther between after that one. His father was totally gone and his brother was only in a very few. Bobby wasn't smiling anymore after that either, not like he had been before.

Eames chuckled at one of Bobby on the high dive in his early teens. From the closed eyes and clenched jaws, he was trying to get up the nerve to jump in. He was already tall, but he hadn't filled out at all so he was all legs and arms, with just a hint of chest hair. One looks at the long thick kinky curls, it looked like he was sporting an afro, told her why he always keeps his hair so short now days.

There was another one of him and Lewis with a convertible. From the look of their clothes they were both working at the auto body shop the car was in front of. They had grease stains on their jeans and t-shirts, but Bobby looked happier than he had for most of the pictures, but he wasn't exactly smiling.

There was another of him and Lewis with the same car but this time they were under the hood of it. Each was on a different side and they both had tools for tinkering at whatever their task was. Their hands were covered in grease and Bobby has some on the end of his nose as well.

"Big surprise there," Eames snorted, with a smile. She was looking at a picture of Bobby graduating Valedictorian.

There weren't many pictures taken after that.

The next ones were in Germany, I've never been there, but he mentioned that was where they were taken. He was in the Army at the time, it was his first stationing. Most of them he was with a young lady of one kind or another. Funny, he was smiling, but he didn't really seem to be very happy.

The picture of Bobby in his BDU's had Eames breathless. It's one of my favorites as well.

"And I thought he looked good in uniform a couple of years ago," Eames commented with a slight shudder.

Those were followed by some taken when he was in Japan; he was towering over the women he was with there.

Eames started smirking at one, so I looked at it too, it was funny.

"Bobby in a Kimono, that's something I didn't think I would ever see," she chuckled.

One of the last photos was Bobby in his police dress uniform.

"Too bad the only time I get to see him like that is at funerals," she sighed.

I had to agree, the only times it gets out of the dry cleaning bag any more is if somebody died. He looks scrumptious in it, but I'm always a little sad when he's in it.

"You look tired, you can sleep her tonight if you would like" I offered as she closed the album.

"If you don't mind I think I'll lay down a bit, maybe then I won't fall asleep on the way home," She agreed.

Yawning widely, she toed off her shoes and stretched out on the couch. I think she was asleep before her head hit the pillow, I didn't bother waking her when the storm let up.

Things got off to kind of a bad start the next day. After taking care of the morning routines, I had curled up in a chair in the living room. It seemed only polite to stay with my guest. Unfortunately I fell asleep, and the baby came in looking for me.

He saw Eames on the couch and wanting to check out this new person, he climbed on top of her so he was sitting on her chest and staring at her. Apparently she's one of those people who wake up when they're being stared at. The way she jumped you would have thought I had put a live wire to her.

"I'm sorry, I should have been keeping a better eye on him," I apologized.

"You startled me, but you sure are cute," she said catching her breath.

"Bobby and I think he is," I agreed, but them I'm a bit prejudice.

She smiled, and started tickling him; he made all of the cute baby sounds that all baby's use to enslave people to them.

"What time is it?" she asked looking at her watch.

"It's morning," I answered.

"I've got to get going, Bobby's going to be ready to leave the hospital soon and I have to pick him up," she sputtered setting the baby on the floor and getting up.

"Thank you for picking him up," I called out as she dashed out. Sometimes I really wish that I could drive, it would make life so much easier.

Well, at least I could make certain that the apartment was ready for him when he gets back. I know it isn't much, but I know that he likes things neat.

"Are you sure that you're going to be okay here alone?"

Eames! I recognize her voice.

"I won't be alone, Shirley will be with me."

Bobby! He's home! I dash from the living room where I was fluffing pillows to the door. Then I remembered what he had put me through yesterday, and went back to the living room.

"She's a cat!" Eames complained.

Well of course I'm a cat! What did she think I was, human?

"I'll be fine, really," he was assuring her as they came in.

She and I both snorted at that. We both know him too well to believe that.

"Let me know if you need anything," she sighed.

Eames gives in to him way to easily.

"I'll be spending a quiet day at home, just like the doctor told me to," he assured her.

"Just you, Shirley and the kitten?" she teased.

"Just the three of us," he concurred.

"Are you keeping the kitten?"

I perked my ears up at that. I'm very particular about where my babies go; but she would certainly benefit from having a keeper.

"No, I just haven't found the right home for him. Are you interested?" He asked, hanging his jacket in the closet.

"Yes, I guess I am," she admitted.

"Thanks, he's a great kitten."

"How did you end up with Shirley?" She asked, picking up the baby who had come over to greet them.

"She was a stray I picked up, when I got her I thought she was a he and named her Sherlock Holmes. When she had kittens in the clothes hamper I changed it to Shirley."

I can't believe he told her about that! It's so embarrassing! I tried to find a better place, but there really wasn't one.

"You and she are certainly well matched, I swear she understand everything I say," Eames commented.

Of course I understand her! What does she think I am? Stupid?

"She does understand, most cats do," he gave a slight smile.

"I have to get going, take care and call me if you need anything; I'll be back tonight to pick up the kitten."

"I'll see you then," he told her, seeing her out.

He got himself something to drink and joined me in the living room. "I'm sorry, Shirley, I didn't mean to frighten you."

I looked out the window.

"Look, I'm back home, and I'm going to be fine," he explained, scratching me behind the ears.

I didn't look at him, but I was purring and leaning into the caresses.

He sighed.

Okay, I'm a softy, sue me. I climbed into his lap.

"Promise me that you'll never do some thing like this again?" I pleaded.

"I'm a cop, I can't promise I'll never get hurt, but I promise to be as careful as possible."

"I guess that'll have to be enough. But I swear if I ever hear that you've done something stupid and gotten hurt because of it, you'll pay."

He smiled, but we understood one another and that's enough. Reaching over he picked up his book and stretched out on the couch to read. As usual I tucked myself under his arm and settled in for a nap. It's good to have him back where he belongs.


End file.
